ULTRAnumb
by rest for the wicked
Summary: Rival thieves are hired to perform a job together. What happens when they find out that their assignment could have worse consequences than they imagined?
1. Chapter 1

**ULTRAnumb**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any characters from the series.**

_Violated, so degraded, the show has just begun…  
_**Chapter 1: It started with Etro…**

It was a simple mission. A snatch and grab. It just so happened that she'd be snatching a priceless piece of art and history that had been kept under strict lock and key for hundreds of years. It wasn't until its previous owner decided to donate it to the city's most prestigious museum in his will that the general public was even getting a chance to see it up close for the first time.

Disabling the building's security had been child's play. Well pretty much everything was child's play for her adoptive sister, but that didn't matter much either. Vanille may not approve of what she was doing exactly, but her younger sibling would stop at nothing to help her if Fang ever asked. Lucky for her, she no longer had to beg for the tools and upgrades needed to make her job easier. With the red head's position as one of the leading specialists in developmental technologies for Sanctum's police forces, Vanille got a chance to build some of the best little gadgets, and Fang got to test them out free of charge.

She also got to stay a few steps ahead of being captured whenever baby sis helped manipulate any evidence she may have left behind. It wasn't a risk she was comfortable with her only relative taking but there was no talking the little one out of it. They had gotten into one of their biggest arguments after Fang had decided to leave in order to protect her sister's job. She quickly found out that Vanille couldn't give two fucks about that though. They were the only family that they had and she refused to let the older woman get arrested.

Fang watched from the skylight as the museum guards milled about some thirty feet below. There were only five of them in the area, each patrolling at regular intervals around her target and armed only with a taser and large nightstick. The reason for her current crime was a glowing blue crystal, twice the size of her fist. Etched into its opalescent surface was an ancient text, its translation long forgotten.

Legend had it that the crystal, _Etro's tear_, had magical properties, at least, that was one of the best excuses people could come up with to explain its constant mystical glow. Others believed that it was a powerful energy source. No one had really had the opportunity to research it and investigate it's properties due to its previous owner's privacy.

"Well, here goes nothin'," Fang exhaled as she dropped from the skylight silently. She had many skill sets, superior strength and stealth being among her top qualities. It was because of these skills that she had been sought out for this particular job. Someone wanted _Etro's tear_ and was willing to pay handsomely for it. For what, she didn't care. The money was a damn good motivating factor. That and the crystal was known to be one of Cocoon's most prized artifacts and she'd be damned if she missed out on an opportunity to get back at the country for the near destruction of her and Vanille's homeland.

It had been over one hundred years since Gran Pulse had been "colonized," it's villages stripped from their rightful owners. Treatment of Gran Pulsians had just recently started getting better although prejudice was still a major problem between the two groups. Despite all of this, Vanille was able to get such a high paying job fresh out of university. But then again, her sister was a genius if not a little on the eccentric side, and was offered enough scholarships to pay for the both of them to attend college if Fang had chosen to do so as well.

She didn't though. Instead she had found her own work elsewhere. That was why was here now, poised in front of the glittering crystal, another one of Vanille's gadgets in hand in order to pull it safely from it's protective enclosure. The pained grunts of the guards she had managed to easily put down while she had been reminiscing were the only sounds in the secluded room. The device in her hands began to emit a faint glow and a low him before the energy grid surrounding the artifact. With a steady hand and the utmost concentration etched on her face, Fang delicately pressed the 'field canceller' against the barrier. For a brief moment, the device and field glowed brighter before flickering out completely. With a satisfied smirk, she reached forward and claimed the tear, cradling it in her palms.

She marveled at its strangeness and beauty. It felt denser than it looked and surprisingly warm through her gloves. She tensed suddenly when she felt the weak grasp on her ankle, looking down to see one of the guards barely conscious and trying to restrain her. Realizing that he must have triggered a silent alarm due to the sound of reinforcements coming from somewhere within the museum, Fang sighed in irritation.

"Sorry buddy, but that's my cue to leave," her accented words barely register with the delirious man as she gave a mock salute before pulling her leg free and heading for the nearest exit. She took down the closest hallway like a bat out of hell, securing the crystal into her hip pouch and pulling out another one of her sister's prototypes. Remembering part of its explanation, she chucked the small gelatinous ball at the window at the end of the passage. It splattered on contact with the glass and instantly created a crystallized mass on its surface upon oxidation. _This should be fun_, she thought as she refused to slow down and hurled herself through the now weakened glass.

Fang tucked and rolled out of the one story building, coming to her feet quickly once she felt the ground beneathe her. Getting her bearings she found the entrance to an alley several yards away and took off once more. _Bingo!_She stopped right below a fire escape leading to the roof of one of the adjacent buildings and quickly hauled herself up. Once safely on the roof, Fang checked to see if the _tear_ was still secured in her pouch before ripping the mask off of her face in relief.

"I'll be dammed if that wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done," her trademark grin flashed into the night before being wiped away completely as the cold barrel of a gun pressed to the back of her head.

Lightning used to do this for her sister, stealing was the only way to provide for them once their parents had died. Once she had been caught at the tender age of fifteen, however, everything had gone downhill from there. Rumors spread like wildfire in Bodhum. She would no longer be able to work in the city anymore and Serah was too young to truly understand why everyone was now alienating her sister. The town was small enough that outside of the tourist months, everyone depended on each other to support the economy. No one had work for a worthless street rat of a girl who stole other's hard earned living and in the end Claire Farron died due to their harsh treatment and Lightning was born in her stead.

It took a few years and countless lies later, but eventually Lightning was able to get a semi-respectable job. She had to take care of her baby sister after all. At the time she started working regularly again, Serah only had a year left of school before she would graduate and head off to Eden University. All of the elder Farron's sacrifices were finally paying off and all she had to do was keep her sibling in the dark when it came to how exactly they were able to keep surviving on their own.

All Serah knew for sure was that her older sister was a body guard for some businessman who had a lot of time on his hands and managed to spend far too much of it making enemies. Living on the streets had hardened Light, even in a town as "soft" as Bodhum. Her demeanor fully froze over once she came to work for _them_ though. There were no epic shoot outs with this man, no bloody gang wars when it came to this particular boss. Yaag Rosch was just a middle man though. He worked for someone much more cunning, much more dangerous, and it was _this_ man's orders that ended up turning Lightning Farron into the criminal she never wanted to be.

It was Rosch's boss who set her up with the training she needed. He started calling the shots when it came to the fierce woman with eyes of a blue so cold, it could freeze even the most fiery of spirits and hair the color of pink innocence that she no longer possessed. Lightning wasn't sure what had happened to her former employer after Dysley got a hold of her, she didn't rightly car though. All she knew was that her new boss paved the way for her little sister to get into Eden U. Not that Serah couldn't have done it on her own. The younger Farron could have been fine operating on scholarships alone, but Dysley's influence was what made it impossible for her sister to _not_ succeed. And that's all she ever wanted for her only family.

That's why she took all of those jobs. "That's why I went back to stealing," she sighed and looked through her binoculars at the museum across the street once more. The boss had a new mission for her, to steal _Etro's tear._ Getting it would secure Serah's internship up at Sanctum and would guarantee that her sister got both the job she wanted and one that would provide her with everything she'd ever need.

Refocusing on the mission at hand, she scanned the room where the crystal was being guarded. Her eye's widened a fraction upon seeing the last of the five guards who had been monitoring the gem crumple to the floor and the warrior of a woman responsible step into the light of the tear's pale glow, intent on taking Lightning's quarry. _Impressive, I couldn't have been looking away for more than forty seconds and she managed to take out all five of them without having an alarm raised._

She watched the newcomer work, noting how she disrupted the museum's protective barrier for the artifact. Lightning noticed the guard still conscious before the other woman, seeing him reach for his silent alarm trigger before feebly trying to restrain the thief.

Not surprisingly, his efforts didn't work. The woman said something to him and left down a hallway, one that led towards the building Lightning was currently occupying. _No unnecessary violence, no display of aggression. Not many people would have let him live after he set that alarm, she's a strange one…_

She looked on as the thief threw something at the window and it appeared to ice over. With no loss of speed she went careening out the window and rolled smoothly back up to her feet. The thief's escape route became apparent as she ran through an alley and reached for the nearest fire escape.

"I should probably thank her for making this easier for me," Lightning commented before grabbing her gear and slipping out of sight just as the stranger hoisted themselves onto the rooftop. Sticking to the shadows behind the building's ventilation system to avoid detection, the pinkette waited for the mysterious woman to face away from her before she made her move. It was as the woman ripped off her face mask that Farron pressed the barrel of her weapon to the back of the other thief's skull.

"Hand over the crystal," her voice was cold and her words direct. The other woman tensed upon first contact but gave a pleasant shudder once addressed.

"And who might you be?" the thief's accent carried a playful lilt, one that didn't match the situation she was in and was beginning to throw the more stoic woman off.

"I won't repeat myself again," Lightning growled before applying more pressure with her firearm and cocking the hammer back.

"I heard ya the first time sunshine, don't get your panties in a twist." The chuckle she heard almost pushed her to the edge. Exercising what little restraint she could, the icy eyed woman yanked her taller counterpart around before reaching for her hip pouch to take the crystal herself. Her hand was stopped however, and she locked eyes with the woman before her. The color alone could have thrown her off, a piercing verdant green, but it was the dangerous fire that danced behind them that truly gave her pause.

"Think ya might be moving a little too fast there, we did only just meet." The words were playful but the tone held a bite to it that was not to be ignored. Fortunately for Lightning, she was as quick as her name sake and when she felt the other woman tense and prepare to strike, she lashed out and felt her fist connect solidly with the green eyed thief's jaw. It was a blow strong enough to daze and the smaller woman acted quickly, pulling the pouch free and sending her opponent sprawling onto her back.

With her goal in hand Lightning spun on her heel, intending to make a hasty exit, keeping her weapon in one hand and the pouch in the other. Taking off at a sprint towards the far side of the building she didn't expect the heavy weight that suddenly crashed into her, sending both items she'd been holding skidding a few yards away. Lightning rolled onto her back to gain leverage in fighting the thief. She aimed another punch for the woman but felt it stopped cold as a fist enclosed around her own, and seconds later her other arm was pinned to her side.

"What'sa matter sunshine, leaving so soon?"

_Dominated by all you hated, this will make you __ULTRAnumb__._

**AN: **I've been wanting to write a FLight fic for a while now and had the idea for this one while perusing some new music on the internets. Not sure if this could be considered a songfic although it was inspired by Blue Stahli's song that share's the same title. I encourage you to listen to it because one of the major scenes in this story is going to be an almost direct reflection of the song. Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnndddd ddddddd I am now late for class so I'm gonna go now. Expect faster updates for all of my stories. My muse is back and I'm about to kill bitches. Review if you'd like for they are always appreciated...Edited from previous posting.


	2. Chapter 2

**ULTRAnumb**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any characters from the series or any lyrics pertaining to Blue Stahli's music.**

_3, 2, 1. You want it full frontal, overstimulation. So say a benediction, for a new addiction, in voyeuristic overdrive.__  
_**Chapter 2: Anti You**

"So she stole the crystal from you?"

"…"

"After you did all the work?"

This time the younger woman was answered with a grumble.

"And she punched you in the face?"

"Are you done?" Fang finally deigned to answer her sister.

"I just think it's funny is all," she giggled and shrugged her shoulders. Upon seeing the elder woman's frustration, however, she finally relented. "Are you alright at least?"

"Yeah, it's my pride that's hurt more than anything."

_And your jaw_, the red head kept that particular jab to herself while passing a cup of coffee over to her sister and getting ready to head to work. "Will you still have to go in to work today? You look like you could use a day or two to rest, Fang."

Smiling at the concern peaking through her sister's voice, she shook her head. "Can't Van. The boss wants to meet for a new assignment. And before ya try to talk me out of it, you already know he's not the kinda man you say no to."

Vanille couldn't keep the annoyed expression off her face even though she opted not to respond. Fang already knew about her disapproval for the people she worked for. There was nothing either of them could do about it though. Sensing that their conversation was drawing to a close and that they both would need to leave the apartment soon, the older Oerban pulled her sister into a light hug and playfully ruffled her hair. "Don't worry about it, everything's gonna be fine. Now go on and have fun blowing stuff up at work. Try not to take out the whole building this time though, kay Van?"

Pushing the taller woman away and swatting at her hand, Vanille huffed in fake irritation. "That was only one time Fang! And I only destroyed the one lab. Maker knows they have plenty more of 'em for us to work in if it happens again."

"That's beside's the point. Now get a move on before you're late. I'll keep ya posted on my next hit." And with those parting words, she ushered the red head out the door after making sure she had everything she needed.

It was only a few minutes later that she made sure all of the lights were off before locking the apartment behind her. _Well, looks like it's time to get some answers… _

* * *

"Well, well. Isn't this a pleasant surprise?"

The pinkette all but scowled as she glanced up from the magazine she'd been reading at the accented voice. Her eyes narrowed instantly when they met verdant greens. "_You_," she seethed, causing the Pulsian's grin to grow wider. With no regard for personal space, the other woman plopped down in the seat beside her, one leg practically touching her own. Lightning glared at the offending appendage before attempting to ignore the new presence by returning her focus to the magazine she had picked up in the office's waiting room.

"That may be true sunshine, but ya can't fault me for being a tad bit shocked that you actually did show up, considering the nature of this meeting and all." Her expression was playful but her words held more bite than one would imagine in the seemingly carefree woman. The pinkette's only reaction was for her glare to deepen even though her eyes remained on the page before her.

Fang sat there quietly for a few minutes, doing her best to take in all that was the woman next to her without being too obvious. For all of her discretion she knew that Lightning could tell what she was up to and simply decided to wait until the woman's patience ran out and caused her to confront the Pulsian.

It wasn't long before the pinkette reached her last nerve and she snapped her head over to find green eye's only a few inches away from hers. "What are you doing?" she ground out through clenched teeth.

"Just taking in the view, _Farron_. Nothing to get your panties in a twist about." Seeing the woman beside her about to explode with fury was turning out to be the best enjoyment she'd had in a while, _Well, the best enjoyment I've had since last night,_ Fang recalled easily. The Pulsian was half tempted to keep toying with her until their attention was drawn to the mouse of a man that had just gestured for them to follow him.

The faceless secretary led them done the hall to a familiar office. Their recently discovered, mutual employer Cid Raines sat behind his mahogany desk with two folders before him instead of the usual one the women were used to seeing. With a bow, the secretary left them standing in front of the rather tall, dark haired man that gestured for them to take their seats.

"I've reviewed the footage that we were able to gather last night, and I must say I'm impressed. You two are our company's greatest assets, I congratulate you on a job well done." He said all of this without giving the slightest eye contact or inflection of praise, instead opting to glance through one of the folders one last time before pushing them both toward the women seated before him.

"It seems a new job has been pushed done and I think it may be easier for the both of you if you handle it together…" he trailed off then in order to watch their reactions. Fang, for her part looked smug, casting a sidelong glance at the pink haired woman beside her. Lightning, on the other hand, looked like she was in major danger of losing her cool. "There will be no negotiating this assignment. You are _both_ to complete it as soon as possible and you are _both_ to do so using our standard protocol. Do not get caught, do not fail. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Lightning breathed, managing to hold in her temper, while Fang simply gave a mock salute.

"You may go then, as usual, anything you may need is in the facility downstairs. Try not to make a mess of things."

They rose as one and exited the office, heading towards the elevators in the rear of the building in order to get to the basement level of the offices.

"Sooo," Fang drawled, "it looks like we're going to be partners on this one sunshine."

Lightning refused to respond, still furious with the lack of confidence Cid had in her abilities to complete this mission alone. She was so lost in her rage that she didn't even realize that neither had any clue what they were actually tasked to do, having denied the opportunity to check folders they'd been given with all the details. It wouldn't be until later that she even realized she had left hers in the office and Fang would be the one to grab them both.

"Seems like somebody doesn't remember how last night went, I recall a certain woman owing me a little more gratitude than that."

Lightning rounded on her in a heartbeat, fully intent to break the woman's jaw this time until she saw that sided smirk, the same one Fang had flashed her before they took on the idiots from Psicom. She was right, she did owe her more gratitude for what she'd done, the events of that assignment replayed in her head for the umpteenth time since she had made it home last night and all she could do was sigh angrily as the memory surfaced once again.

_With her goal in hand, Lightning spun on her heel, intending to make a hasty exit, keeping her weapon in one hand and the pouch in the other. Taking off at a sprint towards the far side of the building she didn't expect the heavy weight that suddenly crashed into her, sending both items she'd been holding skidding a few yards away. Lightning rolled onto her back to gain leverage in fighting the thief. She aimed another punch for the woman but felt it stopped cold as a fist enclosed around her own, and seconds later her other arm was pinned to her side._

"_What'sa matter sunshine, leaving so soon?"_

_Struggling enough to hook her leg behind the taller woman, Lightning jammed her heel into the other woman's calf, causing her to hiss in pain as her grip on slightly loosened. That was all Farron needed to yank one hand free and put a vice on Fang's throat. The other thief's eyes went wide in surprise as their positions were switched and she was the one on her back. There was no time for panic as the grip tightened and she felt her lungs screaming out for air._

_As strong as Lightning was, however, she didn't expect for the Pulsian to be stronger and the tables turned once more, with the pinned woman almost breaking her wrist in order to pry it off of her windpipe. The fight quickly turned into a grappling match as each woman sought out an advantage that neither was willing to give up._

_Despite the ruckus they were making, both thieves managed to identify the sound of bolts being sent forward on several assault rifles and just managed to pull away from each other in time in order to avoid being hit by the first barrage of bullets._

"_Psicom huh?" Fang breathed out, dusting herself off as she stood up a few feet away from her previous opponent. "Bet old Nabaat must be shittin' herself now that she has some jurisdiction over this."_

_The men, who were in fact a part of Sanctum's __Public Security and Intelligence Command__, ignored her comment for the most part. The current leader of their squad merely stepped forward in order to address the two women. "We've been instructed to detain anyone believed to be associated with the crime syndicate known as The Fal'Cie. My squad is authorized the use of any means necessary in order to apprehend suspected L'Cie in the area."_

"_Seems you boys have done your homework," the taller woman smirked predatorily as she crossed her arms, it was an expression that didn't match her predicament and only managed to set the men pointing weapons at them on edge, not at all liking her attitude. Lightning could only cast her gaze warily between the other woman and the Psicom soldiers. L'Cie was the name given to those working for the Fal'Cie, an underground organization known for their less than above board dealings. A lot of rumors had been circulating around lately about them planning more than a few terrorist attempts concerning the people of Cocoon. There was nothing proving these rumors though, and as far as Light was concerned, the only dealing's she'd had with the Fal'Cie was those that dealt with guarding and stealing. Yes, Lightning was a L'Cie. Yes, she'd been one for a long time, and this other woman was right, Psicom had done their homework if they finally managed to connect her thefts back to her employers._

_Tonight's job was supposed to be just her though, that's what she had thought anyway. They had never sent anyone else on the same job as her before, anyway. But seeing how this woman was responding to their presents, going after the same artifact as her, it all began to make sense. Either they were set up, or the Fal'Cie had something bigger planned._

"_You two are advised that any sudden movements you make will be viewed as acts of aggression and we will respond to them as such. Do you understand?" the helmeted soldier's voice was calm, his body steady and controlled. Glancing around, the two women knew that these men were well trained. Either of them could take them on, but not without making it out of there a little banged up._

"_So we really work for the same people, huh sunshine?" the accented voice quickly drew Lightning's attention, she merely flicked her gaze back to the surrounding men, opting not to speak but that was all the answer the other needed as she grasped what the pinkette had been thinking about the entire time. "The name's Fang, then. Pleasure working with you. Now what'dya say we wrap this job up?"_

_She shrugged her shoulders and merely nodding as blue eyes met green, "We'll probably have to kill them at this rate, it'll keep them from identifying us properly at any rate."_

_It was the first trace of humor the Pulsian had heard from her all night and all she could do was grin in response. "Roger that sunshine, dead men can't tell secrets." And with that, they each rushed the nearest soldier._

_More bullets sang out as the fight began, but for all the training Psicom had offered its men, none of it would help them stand against the two furies this night. Fang's fist collided with the visor of the last man to take aim at her and despite some minor knuckle bruising, she managed to crack the protective screen and stun her opponent. As he staggered trying to maintain his hold on his rifle, he felt it wrenched from his hands and jammed into his gut. The last thing he would remember was that sinister grin and piercing green eyes before being kicked off the roof to plummet to his death on the ground below._

_The Pulsian chanced a glance at her temporary partner to see how she was fairing and was surprised to see how quickly the soldiers were falling at her feet. "Impressive," she breathed out, seconds before she saw the flash of a rifle in the moonlight. Seeing that the smaller woman wouldn't be able to react in time, Fang quickly grabbed for the nearest Psicom before shouting for the other woman to get down. She heeded the warning just in time as a shot ripped past where her head had been a split second before and tore into the chest of the man she had been about to put down. Lightning turned around to place the shot only to find the soldier who had fired at her collapse to the ground. One of his teammates knife's buried hilt deep into his throat._

_Farron snapped her attention over to the other woman in time to see the Pulsian pull another knife free of the last of the soldiers on the roof, her once feral grin dampened by that fleeting moment of worry she had had for the other thief. "You alright there, sunshine?"_

"_Fine," she answered hastily, before adding a near inaudible, "thanks."_

_Fang had heard it none the less though and decided against causing another fight. "So what are we gonna do about the crystal?" They both glanced over at the black pouch still on the rooftop. It seemed like Psicom hadn't been smart enough to get away with returning it before they faced off with them._

"_I can take it from here ladies, if ya don't mind." A man with lanky brown hair pulled himself onto the roof. "Lightning, Fang." He nodded at both in turn before picking up the crystal and observing it for a moment._

"_Lightning huh? Lovely name," the taller woman drawled while appearing to ignore the man's presence._

"_Now is _not_ the time," she hissed in return. "Rygdea, what are you doing here?"_

"_My, my, hostile as always Farron. I was sent by Raines. Seems he wanted me to _observe_ how well you two worked together." Rygdea took in the sight of all the dead Psicom that now littered the rooftop and gave a low whistle. "He'll be impressed to say the least. Here's proof of my assignment if ya need it." He tossed a small coded communication device. It was L'Cie standard issue and after a brief once-over, Lightning was satisfied enough to know that the Sanctum infiltrator was telling the truth._

_Picking up her weapon and preparing to leave, Light ignored her fellow 'coworkers' as she made to leave. For all of Fang's urge to stop her, she let the other woman go without hassle. Rygdea on the other hand, managed to get out his last message before she vanished from sight._

"_Raines wants to see you both tomorrow morning. 8:00 a.m. sharp. He has a new assignment for you."_

"_Cheeky little thing, isn't she." Fang commented lightly as she looked at their handy work once more before preparing to leave as well._

"_You have no idea, Ms. Fang. That woman'll probably kill ya in a heartbeat if you don't behave around her."_

"_That sounds like a risk I'm perfectly fine with taking," they shared a laugh before parting ways until the next morning._

Realizing that her hand was once again around the Pulsian's throat, Lightning released her and took a step back. "Let's just get this assignment over with." She turned around and continued in the direction of the elevator, not glancing back to see her new partner compose herself and follow a few paces after her.

"Hmm, she's a feisty one alright. This should be more fun than I thought."

_(Here comes the countdown)  
3 - This is the new flesh,  
2 - This is the open door,  
1 - We've got everything you wanted._

* * *

**AN: **That wasn't so long between updates, I swear I'm getting better. The first chapter is also edited so the majority of the mistakes made in it have been corrected. A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who favorited, reviewed and subscribed to this story. Your encouragement is always appreciated. Not much for me to say about this one except that in the next chapter I should be introducing some of the other characters. Best wishes to all and hope you enjoyed.  
Also, below is a list of songs that served as inspiration for this chapter.

Playlist for Chapter 2…  
Nero – Fugue State  
Nero – In the Middle  
AWOLNATION - Sail  
Blue Stahli – The pure and the tainted  
Blue Stahli – ULTRAnumb  
Blue Stahli – Mystique  
Blue Stahli – Metamorphosis  
Blue Stahli – Anti You  
Daft Punk – Derezzed (The Glitch Mob remix)  
The Glitch Mob - Drive it like you stole it (Cryptex remix)  
Kraddy - Heart Anthem (Cryptex remix)  
Cryptex - Synthesizer  
Cryptex - Breaker  
Cryptex - Slay It  
Cryptex - Reset


	3. Chapter 3

**ULTRAnumb**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any characters from the series or any lyrics pertaining to Blue Stahli's music.**

_3, 2, 1. Reality's to blame for the medication, a new manipulation, oversaturation. Take advantage of what you deny.__  
_**Chapter 3: Welcome to the team**

Vanille was hard at work, testing the energy outputs of two of the new prototypes Sanctum had asked her to develop for their PSICOM team. Reports showed that the weapons were far from the ready stages, their resistance to heavy blows and energy attacks were mediocre at best and their own attacks failed to put a dent in the upgrades the young woman had placed on the armor being handed out to Sanctum's men at this very moment. The girl was adamant about their imminent failure and complete waste of funds in order to fully develop and mass produce them. The gunblade prototype, she could understand as far as usefulness was concerned, but the lance? A fully functional battle lance was perfect for a specifically designed individual, but for the run of the mill soldier, the effort just didn't seem worth it.

All of this was documented in the young developer's notes and attached to the progress and data reports placed on desks of whoever was responsible for coming up with this god forsaken idea in the first place. Vanille's team was instructed to try one more time to get the weapons to work and if that fell through, they were permitted to scrap the project after salvaging whatever data they could. No sense in trying the same thing over again and expecting different results, not with how detailed and in depth the reports were on the eventual failure of the prototypes.

Returning to the control dock of the lab, Vanille prepared to test the energy resistance of the weapons once more. Starting off on the lowest setting, the machines hooked up to the weapons began to hum as electromagnetic pulses were pumped into the chamber they were in.

A soft beeping sounded from her watch, causing the orange haired woman to glance down at the device on her wrist. She quickly pushed a button on its surface to silence the sound and watched as text flashed across the digital screen. 'It's time to give Fang her gift. Make sure the other one's ready too. Our end's set for the drop, waiting for your signal.' She pushed one more button on the device to acknowledge and prepared for her second favorite part of the job.

"Alright guys, they're holding up so far. Increasing output to twenty. Steady, wait for them to stabilize." All of her team slowly stopped what they were doing to observe what they hoped would be the final test for these weapons. They had never made it past fifty percent power on the machine before. Luckily they all had the good sense to stand by their work area instead of crowding around like the last few times they'd been testing the prototypes. Vanille tended to get pretty angry if they didn't at least pretend to be focused on their own assignments.

"Increasing to thirty. Steady." As she worked at the central station of the lab, bouncing back and forth between her personal tablet and the main computer to document the status of the test, Vanille also sent the signal to her associate. _ I hate that I didn't get to work on these bad boys as long as I wanted to, but Rygdea's lucky I managed to finish the modifications in time._ "Increase to forty."

With another press of a button on her tablet, sparks began emitting from the two prototypes. After a few seconds, they seemed to go down and after nodding to her assistant, the output was increased once more. This time, the machines didn't even make it to fifty percent as a blinding light flashed through the entire lab, followed by the test chamber exploding. All that was left of the weapons were the charred outlines of where they once were.

* * *

"This here's the Developmental Technologies floor. It's where we have all of our teams working on different devices to help make things easier for our PSICOM and Guardian Corps forces. Nothing too dangerous really, just riot gear and defensive technology for now. I'll be having you assigned to Miss Dia's team while you're here for your internship Miss Farron. She's not much older than you, a bit of a prodigy actually so we hired her pretty young. In fact, the majority of her team is comprised of some of our youngest and brightest minds so if you have any questions I'm sure they'll be able to help you with no trouble."

"Thank you Mr. Katzroy. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to be here." Serah bowed, respectfully, hands politely clasped in front of her. When she finally straightened, she saw a gentle smile on the older man's face. He let lose a slight chuckle before continuing down the hall to her temporary assignment.

"Feel free to relax a little while you're here, Miss Farron. Down in the labs, especially the one you'll be in, the teams to be less formal. No need having you all stressed out when working around things that could explode at any moment." His sentence was punctuated with a rather deafening bang that managed to startle everyone in the hall with them as well as half the doors located to either side of the now smoking entryway a few feet from them.

"Not again," Sazh Katzroy, department head of all of Sanctum's Developmental Technologies research teams, simply shook his head as he pushed open the still smoking door that led to his best team's lab. _That girl's going to be the death of me, _he thought idly to himself.

* * *

Vanille dusted herself off as she waited for her vision to adjust and for her hearing to return. She knew she wasn't the only one by now as she made out the blurry figures trying to right themselves in the now-wrecked lab. After feeling like she had sufficiently recovered, the young Pulsian attempted to stand only to find that her equilibrium had been thrown off as well. _Rygdea SO owes me for that little stunt, _she thought as she felt gentle hands stabilizer her and lead her to the hallway.

"Another failed attempt, huh Vanille?"

The orange haired woman smiled at the fatherly tone of her department head before nodding slightly, closing her eyes and leaning against the wall for support. He appeared to have gotten the message as he whistled softly, glancing back at the damage the test had caused. "Looks like that's that then. I told the guys upstairs to pay more attention to your reports. All the data we had up 'til now showed that this was going to happen. Those weapons were a nuisance from the start."

_Reports that were faked just to get these things out of here, _Vanille thought wryly. _And now that they're going to be in the hands of someone like Fang, you can bet they'll be even more of a nuisance._ "Nobody listens to sense nowadays, isn't that right, Sazh?" the woman grinned now that she was able to see clearly. It was then that she noticed the young woman who still had a hold of her from earlier, the one who most likely led her out of the lab.

"Well hi there. Oerba Dia Vanille, it's a pleasure to meet you." It would seem her exuberance was the fasting thing that recovered as she stuck her hand out to greet the pink haired woman wearing an intern badge.

"Hello there, my names Serah, I'll be interning…" she trailed off after her mind managed to register what she just heard. Blue eyes widened as they took in the slightly older woman in front of her. "Oerba? As in Pulse?"

"Gran Pulse," Vanille corrected lightly. She mentally counted down the time it would take for the girl to react like most people from Cocoon did once they found out that she was from the colonies. _Should be having a meltdown in 3, 2, 1-_

"ETRO! This is amazing, I've never met anyone from outside Cocoon before. I heard it's beautiful, where you're from, I always wanted to see it but my sister and I never really had a chance to go since we didn't have that much free time or money to spend on travel-"

_Well, I wasn't expecting her to react _that_ way, that's for sure. _Vanille smiled brightly as she continued to listen to the enthusiastic girl before her ask countless questions about her homeland despite the hostilities still going on between their two cultures.

The answerless interrogation went on for a few minutes more before Sazh was able to get a word in, interrupting the excited intern when she paused to take a breath. "Well, now that you know who you'll be working under, Miss Farron, I'll be taking my leave to file a damage report. Vanille, I'll have some medic's sent down to check out you and your team while I'm gone. You know how to reach me if you need anything." He eased his body up and started down the hall to the elevators in order to get back to his office. Before ducking down the doors closed to take him to his floor, however, the old man couldn't resist one more parting shot. "Try not to blow up anything else up though if you get the chance. We're still trying to repair the damage you did to the fourteenth floor after that last experiment of yours."

"It was only one lab! The explosion wasn't even big enough to take out a whole floor. Why does no one ever listen?"

_(Here comes the countdown)__  
__3 – So step right up and see,__  
__2 – The possibilities,__  
__1 – We have everything you wanted._

**AN:**

Happy New Year everyone, and a late Merry Christmas as well. I would've had this chapter out earlier in the holiday season but I had intended for it to be longer and sadly the other part just wasn't clicking the way I wanted it to. It'll be up come the next update, however, so with any luck that one will be out shortly. And with that said, thank you all again for the reviews, follows, and favorites, for if it wasn't for the encouragement I might've stopped writing long ago. Take care until next time.

~rest for the wicked


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